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Vulnerability · Published Mar 22, 2023 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2023-28439ckeditor4 plugins vulnerable to cross-site scripting caused by the editor instance destroying process

Medium 4.7

In plain English

A medium-severity cross-site scripting in ckeditor4 from ckeditor. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.7% (higher than 54% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)4.7Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.7%top 45.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

CKEditor4 is an open source what-you-see-is-what-you-get HTML editor. A cross-site scripting vulnerability has been discovered affecting Iframe Dialog and Media Embed packages. The vulnerability may trigger a JavaScript code after fulfilling special conditions: using one of the affected packages on a web page with missing proper Content Security Policy configuration; initializing the editor on an element and using an element other than `<textarea>` as a base; and destroying the editor instance. This vulnerability might affect a small percentage of integrators that depend on dynamic editor initialization/destroy mechanism. A fix is available in CKEditor4 version 4.21.0. In some rare cases, a security fix may be considered a breaking change. Starting from version 4.21.0, the Iframe Dialog plugin applies the `sandbox` attribute by default, which restricts JavaScript code execution in the iframe element. To change this behavior, configure the `config.iframe_attributes` option. Also starting from version 4.21.0, the Media Embed plugin regenerates the entire content of the embed widget by default. To change this behavior, configure the `config.embed_keepOriginalContent` option. Those who choose to enable either of the more permissive options or who cannot upgrade to a patched version should properly configure Content Security Policy to avoid any potential security issues that may arise from embedding iframe elements on their web page.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12ckeditorno fix listedDEBIAN-CVE-2023-28439
Debian:12ckeditor3no fix listedDEBIAN-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSckeditor3no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSckeditor3no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSldap-account-managerno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSldap-account-managerno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:25.10ldap-account-managerno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSldap-account-managerno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSrequest-tracker4no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSrequest-tracker4no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:25.10request-tracker4no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSrequest-tracker4no fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28439

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
ckeditor ckeditor4 < 4.21.0

Weakness: CWE-79 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

References